Earthfiles investigative reporter Linda Moulton Howe discussed a star that is emitting a light pattern which is stranger than any of the 150,000 stars studied by the Kepler Space Telescope in the past four years; a puzzling "blob of very cold water" in the North Atlantic; and the 2015 case of an Army Sergeant who drove into strange fog and discovered an 800-foot-diameter disc-shaped craft.

The light pattern of a middle aged star called KIC 8462852, some 1,480 light-years from Earth suggests that some kind of complex matter structure is circling the star, causing intermittent brightening and dimming by "a mass of objects," according to Prof. Jason Wright, an astronomer at Penn State University. He told Linda that he and his colleagues are studying all possible natural explanations, and the exotic though unlikely possibility that it could be a "swarm of megastructures" built by an advanced alien civilization to harvest energy from the star. At the suggestion of the Penn State team, SETI started pointing their Green Bank radio telescope at the unusual star to check for signals. More here.

Regarding the abnormal amount of cold water in the Atlantic, Linda spoke with NOAA research scientist Ronald Delworth, who noted it could be related to changing wind patterns. The concern is that all this cold fresh water could dilute North Atlantic Ocean waters so much that the warm Gulf Stream circulation known as the "meridional overturning circulation" could slow down with unknown consequences to the marine life and the European climate. In the years ahead, storms may increase in intensity, though there could be fewer of them in total, Delworth said. Further details.

Over two segments, Linda interviewed 37-year-old Army Sergeant, "C.J.," who had a strange encounter while traveling with his wife and two sons near Wadley, Georgia, en route to Colorado on June 29, 2015. After seeing a large disc-shaped craft covered with odd symbols, he and his wife had jump cut memories, confusion, and lost time. Their car computer and minds were manipulated, and when they finally checked into a hotel, C.J. kept having strange dreams with non-human beings in them. The next night at another motel stop, C.J. woke up shocked to find that he was standing in the bathroom with a ballpoint pen in his hand writing squares and lines on the back of his motel receipt. Those squares and ones turned out to be binary code which Linda translated, part of which included a cryptic warning about star systems in Orion and Zeta Reticuli.

The Legend of Krampus

In the first half-hour, acclaimed artist and author, Brom, shared folkloric tales from old European cultures about Krampus (illustration) - an evil horned imp with a long tongue and cloven hooves who punishes the naughty children who don't make Santa's nice list. Thought of as the dark companion to St. Nicholas, Krampus is celebrated in many Alpine countries on December 5th with participants wearing hand carved masks and dressing as the devilish creature.